I know this weekend is great lakes but is any one going to be around in chicago erea that would like to fly at a good field for a few hours on may 19th
[smiley smilie=7 fontcolor=000000 shadowcolor=000000 shieldshadow=1]please[/smiley]

This is a good example... With Grand Haven is going on at the same time... is it best that we all show up there or should someone(s) sacrifice the big festival to make our presence shown at a local event?

I hate to miss anything going on in Illinois as that's the real purpose for our existence... I'll be happy to make an IKE presence in Woodridge if it's best for us... I think I have enough crap to fly now.... especially since I have a Jordan 100 in my trunk for a little while..

Talked to Babbman about Woodridge today. Need a little more info, but he may get some company!

I agree wholeheartedly in our purpose of becoming a club. Of course I don't want to take anything away from those who want to participate in other ways.

We NEED a club presence at festivals like Gran Haven!!!! But we also need to support local events also; if that means sharing events, then so be it.

The way I see it, the needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few. The "many", being the public, who seem to have a preconceived notion, that kites are for kids. People need to be shown that kites are for big kids also. The "few", are folks around the world, who know what kiting is, and what it can be!

So.... that being said

It's a great satisfaction knowing that for a brief point in time you made a difference.

You guys are honorable gentlemen.
The other advantage of the local festival is you don't have to pay for a hotel.

However, some of these local festivals are very small, so I wouldn't make too big a sacrifice without knowing more.

Grand Haven is the biggest thing we got in the Midwest and Ben and any new Revs will be there for you to fly. Ben would enjoy meeting you guys, and we'll do a mega-fly, so give it some serious thought.

No word from Steve Negen / MacKites, so I don't know if I'll be attending Grand Haven or not. Will keep your event in mind as a possible alternative (so long as it's something more than a small fun fly).

get 'high' on kites,

JH

Last edited by SkyWalker on Sat, Feb 24 2007, 02:52 PM, edited 4 times in total.

Can just anyone join in on one of these 'Mega Flys'? Is there some practice required ahead of time as far as timing & maneuvers, etc??? Or is it basically a game of Follow the Leader?

thanks bud,

Jeff Hale

Mike wrote:You guys are honorable gentlemen.The other advantage of the local festival is you don't have to pay for a hotel.

However, some of these local festivals are very small, so I wouldn't make too big a sacrifice without knowing more.

Grand Haven is the biggest thing we got in the Midwest and Ben and any new Revs will be there for you to fly. Ben would enjoy meeting you guys, and we'll do a mega-fly, so give it some serious thought.

Hi Al,
With all the places that you have traveled, I would suspect that G.H. is not as high on your list. But I have not been to too many large fest as of yet, so G.H. is the highlight of fest to date.
Besides it has a warm spot for me too, for that is where I met Mike, Dan and has mushroomed to good friends that are also on here now.

G.H. is a great festival and I would not want to miss it, but the down side of traveling to a lot of festivals is that you become somewhat jaded. It affects smaller festivals more than Grand Haven, Wildwood, etc. and is intensified by the process of replacing my octopus. A day in the sun with 5 spectators shortens the life of a show kite as much as a day with thousands of spectators. The faded and soft ripstop of the old octopus drives home the fact that there is a real cost every time I pull a show kite out of the bag. There is a fly that I have not committed to where I would fly show kites away from the primary event to bring people into the event. The most I think about spending a couple of days doing this, the less I like it.

[quote="SkyWalker"] Can just anyone join in on one of these 'Mega Flys'? Is there some practice required ahead of time as far as timing & maneuvers, etc??? Or is it basically a game of Follow the Leader?
[quote="Mike"]

To be clear, it's a quad mega fly.
There haven't been too many out our way, so there aren't any rules yet.
One guy calls out formations and the other fliers move around the sky to get into formation.
The last one at Grand Haven was a bit of chaos. I don't think the fellow calling it had done it very often.

If I'm doing it, anyone can play.
The one at kite party in So Cal seems a little more restrictive.

Even if there isn't an "official" mega-fly, I'll be claiming an area (by getting there early) and any and all quad fliers are strongly encouraged to stand shoulder to shoulder with the other quad-nuts and zoom around the sky and laugh a lot. It's the best way for a beginner to gain confidence.

I was thinking that possible attendance should be the deciding factor on spending our time and effort on doing things like this.... a couple of hundred people seems to be a good cut off point.. and would good exposure for us...

local things are also great exposure... it also looks like Oswego will be putting something on which is right in mine and Chris's backyard... The Oswego, Plainfield, Yorkville area is growing at an absolutely tremendous rate right now.

It's possible for IKE to have a presence at more then one festival ? I like the atmostphere of smaller fests. I understanding wanting some population impact before dragging outa big kite, but not everyone has them.

As much as I'd like to go to Grand Haven, I'd rather go when the weather was fit for swimming and camping.

IKE can definitely be at more than one festival, and we don't even have to have an official presence at Grand Haven.
It's just that Grand Haven is the biggest festival we have in the Midwest and I didn't want anyone to miss out if they wanted to go.
Mark Reed of Prism is often there, Ben from Revolution will be there for sure, Gomberg is usually there...
More kites than you'll see anywhere else in the area and it's nice flying on the beach.

Highlights for quad fliers: some excellent stack fliers such as Lee Sedgwick, factory reps from Rev, and lots of quad-head to fly with.

The weather can be anything from bathing suit to ski suit, it varies from year to year.